


Giant Killer Slugs and Other Disasters

by Spoon888



Category: Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers Generation One
Genre: Aliens, Canon-Typical Violence, First Kiss, Gen, M/M, Mild Angst, Untagged Pairings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-27
Updated: 2018-08-27
Packaged: 2019-07-03 09:30:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,461
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15816165
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spoon888/pseuds/Spoon888
Summary: After losing the war the Decepticons are sentenced to exile and struggle to find their new place in the universe. Morale is low and infighting high.But there's nothing quite like giant alien slugs to bring people together.





	Giant Killer Slugs and Other Disasters

Losing the war had struck many blows, but none had cut so deep as the loss of Cybertron. They were exiles now, drifting through deep space, a rundown war-fleet with no fight left to give.

Over one hundred Decepticon's resided on the _Nemesis_ \- but holed up in his quarters, refusing to face any of them, Megatron had never felt so alone.

Beyond the bulkhead of his sparse quarters lay lightyears of emptiness. There was nothing, no air, no light, just a dark sky that stretched on endlessly, stars that blinked teasing in the distance. Between galaxies was a lonely place to be for a faction with no home.

Even lonelier when restless, claustrophobic seekers had started a fight on the bridge and recklessly destroyed the navigational systems in the crossfire, leaving the entire fleet completely lost. Megatron had always expected to fall in the glory of battle, but here he was, destined to rust in a cocoon of steel and wire, drifting in the void between worlds.

According to Rumble he was being a "drama-queen".

Maybe he was. Soundwave and Shockwave had reassured him the navi-computer could be repaired within the week... _if_ they had had the spare parts available. Starscream had then boasted that he would have it up and running by the end of the day, without the need for help _or_ spare parts.

So far all he'd had done was electrocute himself and swear a lot.

He too, was now moping in his quarters.

Megatron should have been furious, he should have terrorised the restlessness out of his seekers before they'd ever gotten so worked up they started to fight each other. He should have threatened his lieutenants into fixing the damaged systems quicker before he'd been desperate enough to let _Starscream_ of all mechs at it, and he should have booted the useless seeker out of the airlock when he'd done nothing but make it worse.

But he wasn't angry. He was tired, and cold, feeling as lost as the damn fleet, floating aimlessly through unknown space. Exploding into a rage wasn't going to get them anywhere any quicker, and threatening his mechs wasn't going to make them anymore effective at solving a problem they had no more power than he to solve.

For now, there was nothing to do but wait.

 

* * *

 

 

Being lost out in space for so long meant having to make compromises. Resources were being rationed, including energon. Soundwave calculated that they had enough to keep themselves fuelled for 'long enough'. Theoretically. So long as there was no wasteful behaviour.

So Megatron bid an emotional farewell to the last cube of high-grade he was likely to have in a long time.

As well as blacklisting the concentrated fuel, they had little energon to spare for the med bay. Cutting back on repairs meant cutting back on infighting.

Which meant they all had to stop trying to kill each other.

Which meant, _really_ , that Megatron needed to try and get along with Starscream and not antagonise him to the point where he'd try and assassinate him, again, as Soundwave frequently liked to remind him. As if _Starscream_ was the innocent party in their longstanding rivalry.

It didn't help that restraint when it came to his idiot second was even more trying thanks to his self-imposed high-grade prohibition.

"Is it fixed yet?" He hissed at his haggard looking high-command.

From behind the monitors he saw Starscream's wings hitch up in clear agitation before Shockwave's helm appeared.

"Not yet my Lord, but we are making fast progress-"

_"-have finished hours ago if he didn't keep interrupting us_ -" Megatron heard a snippet of Starscream's muttering from behind the consoles.

He narrowed his optics, but for the greater good of their energon reserves, decided not to pummel the seeker. Yet.

"Comm. me when you have the system back online," he ordered, deciding to leave now before temptation got the better of him and he grabbed one of Starscream's ridiculous wings and tore it off.

 

* * *

 

It took another two weeks to get the navi-computer up and running. And another three after that to locate a planet with liveable conditions.

To say Megatron was eager to get himself and his twitchy seekers off the damn ship was an understatement. He wasn't going to let anything delay it now.

"-I don't care if the planet is on _fire_ , Starscream!" Megatron bellowed. "I am not spending another second on this Primus forsaken ship!"

Starscream was visibly shaking with rage, but Megatron was on the verge of tearing a hole out of the _Nemesis's_ hull in claustrophobic panic. It was fine for the seekers, the ship frequently made stops so they could go out for a flight every other day. Not everyone on the ship had the luxury of wings.

"The _planet_ ," Starscream spoke slowly and forcibly, as one usually did when addressing an idiot. "Is _occupied_."

"And Earth wasn't?!"

Starscream's optics bulged, "Earth is a good example!" He yelled, "Earth is why we should steer clear of those filthy organics!"

Megatron gestured to Shockwave to start their decent into orbit.

"Unlike you, coward, I'm not going to let a few pathetic insects chase us off. What threat could they possibly pose to us?"

"I'm staying on the ship!" Starscream announced instead of continuing the argument, "You can go and get yourself digested by some giant slug for all I care, but _I'm_ not putting one _thruster_ on that planet!"

With a self important huff, he twirled on his heel and strutted off.

He was gone long before Megatron could come up with a decent comeback about how unlikely giant slugs were.

 

* * *

 

When Megatron first laid optics on it he'd been sure it was just a hill; a large mound of mud. But then it had _moved_.

He didn't have much time to be suspicious of Starscream's uncannily accurate prediction of what were less like giant slugs, and little bit more like gargantuan metal-eating invertebrates with ten thousand saw-like teeth and putrid breath, because he was on the verge of being eaten by it.

He was at least one step ahead of Skywarp, who was currently in it's mouth, but that's what happened when you were curious enough to poke it's face in the first place.

Megatron was beginning to hate seekers.

Other than himself, Thundercracker was the only other Decepticon in their party brave enough not to run -or fly- shrieking back to the _Nemesis_ and endeavour to stay and rescue the idiot. Which really, Megatron realised, made them idiots too.

"Skywarp!" Thundercracker shouted as he flew around the slug-thing's mouth, firing into it to prevent Skywarp from being swallowed. "Teleport!"

Skywarp shrieked like a victim in a horror film, legs and arms futility trying to keep the jaw around him from clamping down and chewing him up. A valid reaction to have given his circumstances.

Megatron took aim with his fusion cannon and fired at where the creature's eyes should be. It seemed to work. The monster's head flicked back and it roared like one of the Autobot's ridiculous dinobots. It began swinging it's head from side to side, finally releasing Skywarp, who fell screaming from it's mouth to land with a wet squelch on the ground below.

"Warp!" distracted by Skywarp and looking in the opposite direction, Thundercracker didn't pull up out of the way as the incensed monster tossed it's head to the side. It's dense hide was as tough as armour. It knocked Thundercracker flying into the undergrowth. He didn't reappear.

Megatron ran towards Skywarp, to rescue him or punch him, he wasn't sure yet, when the creature roared again. Inches from the spit-covered seeker, Megatron looked up and saw a hundred rows of razor sharp teeth descending on them.

He threw himself onto his back in order to aim his cannon properly. He fired, just as Skywarp screamed again and threw his arms around his legs. His shot passed the rows of fearsome teeth and managed to hit the soft flesh of the slug's gullet.

The monster squealed in agony, already drawing away. Megatron scrambled to his pedes, dragging Skywarp along with a fist around the edge of his wing. Above them, the giant-slug-thing made wet, gagging noises.

There was just enough time for Skywarp to yell, "Eww!" before the consequences of the blow the fusion cannon had dealt splattered all over them. Megatron was momentarily frozen in disgusted horror.

He swore he could hear Starscream cackling...

Skywarp wiped slime from his face and finally gathered the sense to teleport them out from under the slug. They reappeared in the undergrowth next to where the monster had attacked them, where Thundercracker must have fallen.

"TC!" Skywarp released Megatron to rush off in search of his trine-mate, "Where are you?!"

"Skywarp!" Megatron barked, because the slug was still searching for them.

" _TC_!"

The monster-slug shrieked. The trees in the distance rustled and snapped. A dark shadow fell over them.

"Skywarp, no!" Megatron whisper-shouted, taking off after him.

"Thundercracker!" Skywarp yelled, sounding particularly distraught.

It was that final shout that did it. Despite a lack of audials or ears or whatever organics called them, the slug clearly wasn't deaf. It's sightless head snapped towards them.

Megatron finally caught up enough to snatch Skywarp around the waist, "Teleport us back to the _Nemesis_!" He bellowed. " _Now_ , Skywarp."

"Not without Thundercracker!" Skywarp shouted, struggling against him, "We can't leave him!"

"We have to!" Megatron shouted, stumbling through the twisted alien plant-life in a futile attempt to outrun the rapidly gaining monster. "Teleport! Now!"

"No! _TC_!"

Megatron could feel the creature's breath on the back of his neck. He didn't dare turn around. This is what it must have felt like for all the humans he'd stepped on...

Just when he was sure they were seconds away from feeling teeth tear through armour, there was an huge explosion. Megatron threw himself and Skywarp down, heat licking at their backs. The monster's roar faded into a pathetic, dying shriek.

There was a loud thud, trees felling. Then nothing.

Megatron began to lift his helm-

-to see a pair of very blue thrusters.

Could this day get any worse?

"Fear not, mighty Megatron!" Starscream had his nose in the air and chest puffed out. Megatron shuttered his optics in resignation. "The ' _pathetic insect_ ' has been taken care of."

"Star!" Skywarp disentangled himself from Megatron. "You rescued us!"

Megatron would have preferred the slug eating him over this.

"Don't touch me!" Starscream shrieked when Skywarp tried to hug him. "What on Cybertron are you covered in?! It stinks!"

"What happened to staying on the ship!?" Megatron snapped before Starscream could humiliate them any further.

"Well," Starscream's smile was the very definition of passive aggressive, "I was quite happily 'staying on the ship' until fifty of your finest cowards came back screaming that an 'organic monster' had eaten my trine-mate."

Megatron glared, "...I was handling it."

"Of course you were," Starscream sneered, and then stepped back to reveal a very sorry looking Thundercracker resting on the ground. His helm dented and left wing bent at a painful ninety degree angle, but alive.

"TC!" Skywarp squealed, and ran past Starscream to embrace him. Thundercracker didn't protest Skywarp's disgusting state.

Their happy reunion was interrupted by a distant roar. Megatron scanned the sky warily.

"That'll be the crabs," Starscream murmured cryptically, and Megatron was beginning to wonder if Starscream had been here before. "Let's go."

Starscream wasn't in charge, but Megatron was covered in slug slime. Sometimes it just wasn't worth arguing.

 

* * *

 

Starscream hadn't made an appearance on the bridge since they'd left Planet-Giant-Mech-Eating-Slug. Rumour had it that Skywarp was suffering from some sort of post traumatic stress. Megatron had sneered when he'd heard the news. The slug hadn't been _that_ bad.

"Typical seeker melodrama," he'd muttered, before ordering Soundwave to drag Starscream and his trine out of whatever hole they'd hidden away in and back to their stations. Soundwave's attempts at enforcing his orders were unsuccessful, but they often were when it came to Starscream.

His next step would have been to enforce his command personally -had he not overheard a gaggle of loitering seekers on his way to do just that.

He had been right. The slug hadn't been that bad. The organic monster wasn't what had left Skywarp an emotional wreck in the aftermath of the incident.

"-knocked him out." A yellow generic seeker was saying to what appeared to be his trine. "Warp couldn't feel him in the bond. Thought the worst."

Megatron paused to listen, just out of sight.

"-awful," another seeker responded, expression drawn. "-can't imagine-"

They were moving away, and Megatron could only hear snippets of their conversation.

"-almost losing your sparkmate like that..."

Megatron turned back the way he came. Skywarp could have a few more days. It was peaceful on the bridge without Starscream anyway.

 

* * *

 

Few habitable planets came their way in the days that followed, and Megatron didn't have the spark to drag another landing party across a planet that was already occupied. He thought of Skywarp fighting against him on the slug-planet, ready to die a hideous death before leaving his mate behind.

Dedication like that was uncomprehendingly terrifying.

Clicking heels reached his audials. He didn't have the strength to roll his optics when Starscream came strutting in.

"Well well well, look who's plotting his next big disaster. Found a new planet to get us killed on yet?"

"No," Megatron rubbed his chin thoughtfully, refusing to let Starscream's goading get to him. "We won't be landing in any more occupied systems."

It was enough to stun Starscream into silence- Megatron's first and only victory against him since their exile.

"Oh, good." Starscream said eventually, awkwardly.

Megatron glanced at him, hovering next to the hyperdrive consoles, shifting his footing. There were lines under his optics. He looked tired, drawn out, like he was running on fumes.

"...How is your trine?" Megatron asked.

Neither one of them were good at small talk. Megatron knew he wasn't the only one feeling out of place when Starscream's optics flashed in surprise at the unexpected question, and his leader's implied concern.

"They are... resting," Starscream said lamely, then glared. "No thanks to you-"

"I know." Megatron interrupted, "I know."

Starscream nodded stiffly, "I _did_ tell you-"

"I know, Starscream," Megatron agreed again, too exhausted to fight with him today, to repeat the cycle. Again and again. The same ship, the same walls, the same procedures.

Without an argument to push Starscream looked even more out of place. He continued to fidget. Megatron ignored him, staring out through the view port at unfamiliar stars.

"I could take you with me." Starscream blurted out.

Megatron looked at him. "What?"

"If you wanted to get off the ship." Starscream said quickly, waving a servo around sporadically. "I can't carry you like _that_ , but if you got over yourself enough to transform I could."

Megatron stared, uncomprehending.

"For a _flight_ ," Starscream was annoyed at having had to elaborate. "I can take you for a flight. If you're in gun-mode I can carry you."

Megatron wasn't keen on the thought of being carried anywhere, not in the least when he was in such a vulnerable position. But something told him Starscream was trying to be... nice? And the chance to get out of these halls...

"...That ...would be nice," he nodded once, awkward. Neither of them could quite meet the others gaze.

Starscream recovered first, tossing his helm into the air. "Yes well. I'm going out this evening. Alone. Unless you came. I'd make an exception."

"Yes..." Megatron was beginning to feel like something else was going on here. "I would like that."

Starscream's lips pressed together like he was trying not to smile. He nodded and left. Megatron stared at the place where he'd been, trying to figure out if he'd just been asked on a date.

 

* * *

 

  
The _Nemesis_ shrank in his optics, no longer a fearsome warship, just a small speck of light amongst the universe's darkness, indistinguishable from every other star. Megatron wondered how far out Starscream was planning on taking them, his thrusters on full, gliding effortlessly through frictionless space.

It was certainly enough to cure his claustrophobia.

He was attached to the underside of Starscream's jet, unable to tell what way was up or where they were heading- but he'd never felt so free, so at peace. Starscream rolled playfully, twisted around. The _Nemesis_ came back into view as Starscream honed in.

He swooped in close and Megatron thought that might have been the end of it. A short pity flight to get him off the ship and wipe the frown from his expression. But Starscream didn't slow to dock in the hanger. He cut it close, swooping low. On his underside, Megatron tensed, just centimetres away from scraping against the war ships's hull.

He heard Starscream's laughter through the comm's and wanted to scowl.

" _Enough fooling around_." He sent.

Another laugh, and, " _Scared Megatron_?"

Maybe a little. He wished he was in bipedal mode so he at least had limps available to cling to something during the harrowing close calls. His fuel pump sped up. His spark skipped beats. Starscream continued to dip in and around the ship, diving low and making turns at the very last moment. It was thrilling, in an unnecessarily life-threatening way.

Finally Starscream began to slow, pulling up beside an airlock. Without warning he detached Megatron from his underside. Megatron felt himself begin to drift, and almost panicked, throwing himself into a transformation sequence to grab at the airlock's safety bar. He was a moment too late, fingers only grazing it.

Starscream's servo darted out and closed around his wrist, reeling him back in. Megatron gripped the bar with both servos, angry as his momentary fear subsided.

"I wasn't going to let you drift off." Starscream muttered, rolling his optics, as though him wanting something untoward to happen to Megatron was out of character. Megatron grit his denta and reached to open the airlock.

"Wait." Starscream grabbed his forearm. "What's the big rush? Stay out a little longer."

"So you can push me into the next black hole we pass?"

Starscream snorted, "Don't tempt me."

Megatron stayed, griping the safety bar as he turned to see what had Starscream's attention. There was nothing interesting in this part of the universe. Just distant galaxies, small blurs of light that contained billions of stars.

"Being exiled doesn't mean we have to be 'exiles'." Starscream said, sounding cryptic. He was staring off at the distant galaxies, squinting like he might have recognised some. "Who needs Cybertron anyway. At least out here it's peaceful."

Megatron thought about all the drama that occurred daily on the _Nemesis_ and couldn't find it in him to agree. Maybe Starscream's own stresses were making him delusion.

"We should do this again sometime.' Starscream said, which only strengthened Megatron's theory.

"Yes," he said anyway, "I'll check my schedule."

Starscream looked like he knew he didn't have anything better to do anyway. He didn't call him out though. They lapsed into silence- something uncommon to experience in Stsrscream's company. Megatron felt the growing need to fill it, however he could, lest Starscream grow bored and open the airlock.

It had been so long since he'd just... _sat_ with someone.

He cleared his vocaliser, "I never thanked you. For coming when we were attacked."

Starscream glanced at him, and sharing the same safety bar they were close together, Megatron turned his helm so their faces weren't quite so close. Starscream shuffled up next to him anyway.

"I came for my trine." Starscream said eventually. "But we can call it even."

"Even?"

"For you not punching me." Starscream smirked.

Megatron frowned. "Why would I-"

A servo on his cheek turned him the rest of the way. Starscream kissed him, and it was such a shock that Megatron did nothing. Soft, full lips melded against his. They moved with slow precision, the pressure carefully calculated, the thumb against his cheek stroking in time to the massage of his lips. It was enough to wipe Megatron's processor completely blank.

Starscream released him with a little shove, smug and proud of himself.

Megatron swayed back and stared, servo locked around the safety bar like his whole frame had glitched and seized up.

"Same time tomorrow?" Starscream smiled, flipping the switch and opening the airlock. It hissed open with a rush of air. He didn't seem to need an answer.

Megatron regained control of his limbs in time to catch him, a servo around his forearm. Starscream stopped, warily surprised.

Megatron relaxed his grip.

"Can it not be sooner?" He asked.

Starscream smiled, and the airlock resealed.

They sat together a while longer.

 


End file.
